They will know us by our ‘nots’
Do you ever wonder if the world would be more interested in the Church if it didn’t seem like we were against everything?
How amazing would it be if we were not known as pro-life or anti-choice, but as people who loved and cared for unwed mothers and their children? What if we were known not as middle class WASPs, but as generous people sacrificing to help others? And what if we were known not as homophobes, but rather as people who loved the gay community and did everything we could to introduce them to Jesus. And not just so they’d stop being gay. After all, a Christian struggling with homosexuality is no different than a Christian struggling with pride. We all need to deal with our sin. We’re all broken.
We often define ourselves as for or against certain moral frameworks. But God did not call us to morality; He’s called us to himself. If I convince someone to become pro-life or straight and they never meet God then we’ve only gotten part-way (and not the most important part).
I think we’ve often lost ourselves trying to regulate society’s morality. We’re outraged when a TV show we really like promotes a moral stance with which we disagree. We march on Washington and forget that the ones who really need help are the mothers who are at the end of their rope struggling with what to do and the ones who are dealing with the pain and emotional scars of their previous mistakes. These are not bad things to do, but they fall way short of what we should be doing. When we define ourselves by what we’re against, we’re not able to beckon people to come to Him. Jesus. He’s why we’re here. He’s the only person who can really help and heal.
There are amazing churches out there who get that. I’m privileged to be a part of one. There are many many others. But I can’t help but wonder what signals the Church in America is sending. A friend of mine said once, “The mission of the church is to love people so much that they are forced to ask ‘Why?’” I couldn’t agree more.
In the end. we shouldn’t be known for what we’re against, we should be known for love.
Dr James Victor Webb Says:
Well said and well written.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 2:04 PM
Tracy Says:
Brian, I agree with most of what you’ve written. The church should be the place where love for unbelievers is demonstrated.
However, do you believe that Christians should take a moral stand when necessary? Maine voters, spearheaded by the church, recently overturned an ordinance allowing gay marriage. Would you consider that a good thing or a bad thing? I worry that there has been an errosion of solid ethical values in America. Gay marriage will be legalized in America within 10 years, and I believe that it is due to permissive attitudes. We as Christians must reach out the gay community and show that we, like God, love them.
Your thoughts?
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 8:06 PM